Anybody see this before??

[Erik the Awful]

Probably a little too advanced for the DIY guy? Maybe.

One of my side gigs is welding table legs for a friend who builds epoxy river tables. When a customer wants a table longer than 6', he brings the pre-assembled legs to me and I weld in angle iron to tie the legs together. I measure them square to about 1/32". I pay attention to the order of my welds to try and keep it square. Every time I get done welding, they're at least 1/4" out of square. Every. Time. Welding the axle tubes to the diff housing is probably not a beginner's job. It's a bad way to end up with caster/toe problems in your rear wheels.

 

[Nad_Yvalhosert]

One of my side gigs is welding table legs for a friend who builds epoxy river tables. When a customer wants a table longer than 6', he brings the pre-assembled legs to me and I weld in angle iron to tie the legs together. I measure them square to about 1/32". I pay attention to the order of my welds to try and keep it square. Every time I get done welding, they're at least 1/4" out of square. Every. Time. Welding the axle tubes to the diff housing is probably not a beginner's job. It's a bad way to end up with caster/toe problems in your rear wheels.

What is an "epoxy river"?
How do you weld to epoxy?
How does one measure rear caster on a solid axle?

 

[Erik the Awful]

www.google.com/search?channel=fs&client=ubuntu&q=epoxy+river+table

Sorry, I meant camber, not caster. Back in the day RX-7 racers would heat and bend the axle tubes slightly to get a couple degrees negative camber. Doing so puts your axles in a constant state of flex, but if you want to win...

 

[kennythewelder]

One of my side gigs is welding table legs for a friend who builds epoxy river tables. When a customer wants a table longer than 6', he brings the pre-assembled legs to me and I weld in angle iron to tie the legs together. I measure them square to about 1/32". I pay attention to the order of my welds to try and keep it square. Every time I get done welding, they're at least 1/4" out of square. Every. Time. Welding the axle tubes to the diff housing is probably not a beginner's job. It's a bad way to end up with caster/toe problems in your rear wheels.

Very true. We take
Precautions to keep things square and true when welding. Sometimes tacking in braces that can be removed after the welding process. All times welding in steps to keep things square and true. 0.050 is a lot to be out of tolerance in a machine shop. The last place I worked at, they would call that locking a part in place so it can not pull when it is welded. Then there is the fact that a differential housing will be different thickness that an axle tube, and may even be different material. This is where preheating comes into play. Your best bet is to bring it somewhere to have it done. A drive line shop, a drive shaft shop, or a good machine shop, can all do this for you. It should cost less than $100. Then the job is done correctly and to spec.